Berthoud looks to cut rural bus service

Public hearing scheduled Jan. 22

BERTHOUD -- A budget squeeze is forcing Berthoud to look at reducing the area its transportation buses will serve — a move that some worry will result in homebound residents.

The town is proposing that Berthoud Area Transportation Service (BATS) stop picking up residents who live within the Berthoud Fire Protection District but outside the city limits, cut the hours of service and provide rides to Longmont and Loveland at fixed times. Currently the service runs throughout the district by appointment only and to both Loveland and Longmont as needed.

Nancy A. Weber, spokeswoman for the Golden Links senior group, said about 10 people who live outside the city in rural Berthoud use the service regularly to attend senior lunches and other activities.One man, she said, is in a wheelchair and will be essentially homebound without BATS.

“We are aware of challenges, and we've all pulled in our belts a little bit,” Weber said. “But by eliminating some of the service, they're hurting some of our seniors.”

The move is not to hurt residents but to keep the service afloat, Town Administrator Mike Hart said.

“We're going broke,” he said.

Last year, BATS spent $223,105 — the bulk of it from grants with donations, federal funding for senior transportation, grants and $92,000 from the town, explained Faith Smith, Berthoud's accountant.

For 2013, the service's budget is $147,800.

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The drop is due to lost grant funding including money for rural transportation and a reduction of the town's share to $72,000.

Hart explained that Berthoud's rural grant money was tied in to that of other, larger governments including Loveland and Larimer County. When those entities stopped running rural transportation routes, the money was no longer available for Berthoud. And Berthoud can afford only $72,000 for 2013, Hart said.

“The competition for money in Berthoud is fierce,” Hart said. “We have streets that need repaired, a cracked ceiling. Every dollar counts.”

BATS was originally formed as a volunteer only service. The town took over operation in 2006 and has since pumped $1.2 million into the transit, according to Hart.

The bus runs 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, picking up residents upon appointment. There is no fee for seniors and a minimal fee for others.

The proposal is to reduce service hours to 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, to stop responding to rural homes and to change to fixed routes to Loveland twice a week and Longmont once a week.

A public hearing on the proposal is scheduled at 7 p.m. Jan. 22 at the Berthoud Town Hall, 328 Massachusetts Ave. After the hearing, the town board is scheduled to decide whether to enact the proposal, which follows budget guidelines set by the trustees.

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